Strand-loop fastener



Feb 1956 c. A. FLOOD STRAND-LOOP FASTENER frzaeniar Jazz z 1750062 Filed Jan. 1.5, 1953 2,733,527 STRAND-LOOP'FASTENER Carl A. Flood, Framingham, Mass, assignor to Dennison Manufacturing Company, Framingham, Mass, a corporation of Massachusetts This invention relates tofastene' rs and more particularly to a fastener for adjustable strand loops of the type used, for example, in'attaching a tag to the reduced part of an object, as'an'armorleg, and where a loop of "string must be disposed about the object, then adjustably reduced in size to conform to the reduced part of the object, after which the loop must be secured in its reduced form to prevent accidental displacement thereof from the object.

Objects of the present invention are to provide a fastener of the type described which can be quickly and easily applied to theloop before it is disposed about the object, which freely permits the loop to be adjustably reduced to the desired size, which provides for and facilitates locking of the loop in its reduced form and which issimple and economical in construction and easy to operate.

According to the present invention the fastener comprises a stifily resilient wafer having a slit within its boundaries, the ends of the slit being closed, both sides of the loop slidably extending through the slit and resiliently displacing a portion of the wafer along one edge of the slit, the sides of the loop being slidable within the slit toward the opposite ends thereof, respectively, further resiliently displacing said portion, thereby to pinch and frictionally lock said sides of the loop adjacent said ends.

In a preferred aspect of the invention the slit forms a tongue, both sides of the loop extending through the slit resiliently displacing the tongue out of the plane of the surface of the wafer to permit said sides of the loop to be freely slidable through the slit in the direction which the tongue extends. The loop may also extend through an opening in a tag.

In another aspect of the invention the wafer may constitute the tag or may be mounted on one face of the tag as a reinforcement, the tag having a slit in registry with the slit in the wafer, both sides of the loop slidably extending through the tag and wafer slits.

For the purpose of illustration a typical embodiment of the invention is shown in the accompanying drawings in which Fig. l is a plan view of one embodiment showing the loop prior to reduction of its size and in unlocked position;

Fig. 2 is a section along the lines 22 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the embodiment of Fig. 1 showing the loop reduced in size, disposed about an object and in locked position;

Fig. 4 is a plan view similar to Fig. 1 and including a Fig. 5 is a plan view, similar to Fig. 1, of a modified embodiment of the invention;

Fig. 6 is a section along the lines 66 of Fig. 5; and

Fig. 7 is a plan view, similar to Fig. 3, of the modified embodiment of Fig. 5.

The particular embodiment chosen for the purpose of illustration in Figs. 1 to 3 comprises a flat wafer 1 of stifily resilient material, as for example, fiber, the wafer having a slit 4 within its boundaries, the slit being closed United States Patent 0 2,733,527 Patented Feb. 7, .1956

at its ends 5 and 6. The slit is preferably shaped to form a tongue 7 extending toward the forward edge 2 of the wafer and is here shown byway of preferred example as arcuate.

Both sides 8 and 9 bra strand loop 10, here described,

the slit even when the sides of the loop are joined together by a knot 12 (Fig. 5) at said end. The tendency of the tongue resiliently to return to its normalposition within 1 said plane firictionally resists any tendency of the sides of the lop to slip back through the slit and prevents the knot from inadvertently slipping back through the slit.

The sides 8 and 9 of the loop are slidable within the slit 4 towards the ends 5 and 6 of the slit, respectively, which further resiliently displaces the tongue out of said plane, thereby increasing the tendency of the tongue resiliently to return to its normal position within said plane and causing the sides of the loop to be pinched and frictionally locked adjacent the ends of the slit.

One manner in which the invention may be used, and assuming that the loop 10 is in the extended and unlocked position shown in Fig. 1, is first to dispose the loop about the reduced part of an object here represented by the numeral 13. While the wafer is held in one hand of the user the sides 8 and 9 of the loopwhich extend through the slit are grasped in the other hand and pulled in the direction in which the tongue extends, the sides: of the loop sliding freely within the slit to reduce the size of the loop about the object as shown in Fig. 3, the arcuate shape of the edges of the wafer defining the slit guiding the sides of the loop away from the ends of the slit. When the loop has been reduced to the desired size the user grasps the sides 8 and 9 of the loop and slides them apart within the slit towards the ends 5 and 6 of the slit respectively,

thereby causing them to be pinched and frictionally locked within the slit adjacent said ends to lock the loop in its reduced form. To unlock and release the loop the user need only reverse the steps above described.

The modification shown in Fig. 4 is like that shown in Fig. 1 except for the provision of a tag 14 of a well known commercial type having an opening 15, the loop 10 passing through said opening.

The modification shown in Figs. 5 to 7, in which, wherever possible, the corresponding parts have been given the same reference numerals as in the previously described embodiment, is like that shown in Figs. 1 to 3 except that the wafer 1 is mounted on one face of a tag 14 preferably adjacent one edge thereof by suitable means, as for example, an adhesive. The tag 14 is provided with a. slit 15 in registry with the slit 4 of the wafer, said tag slit 15 forming a tongue 17 in the tag conforming in size and shape to the tongue 7 of the wafer. The manner of using the modification shown in Figs. 5 to 7 is identical with that above described in connection with the embodiment of Figs. 1 to 3.

From the foregoing it will be evident that the salient feature of the invention consists in that the ends of the slits diverge from each other so that when the opposite sides of the loop are pulled transversely of the tongue 7 in opposite directions edgewise of the tag or wafer, the sides of the loopslide down the sides of the slit toward the respective ends of the slit and wedge therein solely in response to the transverse pull on the two sides of the loop. Thus, in closing the loop about an object, the user need not grasp the tag or wafer but only the two sides of the loop with his two hands respectively.

loop-adapted to be disposed about the article, and a -fas-' tener, the fastener'comprising a resilient wafer having, wholly inside its boundary, a slit narrower than the strand throughout substantially its entire lengthand shaped to form a tongue which extends in a direction away from the loop and which can be flexed out of theplaneof the wafer, both sides of the loopslidably extending through the slit in the direction in which the tongue extends and having portions projecting beyond the slit, the ends of the slit diverging-from each other so that, whenthe projecting portions of the opposite-sides of the loop are pulled transversely of the tongue in opposite directions-edgewise of. the Wafer, the sides of the loop slide down the sides of the slit toward the respective ends of the slit and wedge therein. v r p a 2. The combination of claim 1 further characterized by means at the end of said projecting portions for preventing them from accidentally slipping back through the slit.

3. The combination of claim 1 further characterized in that said wafer comprises a tag.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 232,285 Manneck Sept. 14, 1880 536,031 Hood Mar. 19, 1895 656,431 Stewart Aug. 21, 1900 811,381 Comstock Jan. 30, 1906 822,728 Earl June 5, 1906 1,065,190 Tobin .Tune 17, 1913 1,146,934 Gleeson July 20, 1915 1,198,954 Reinelt Sept. 19, 1916 1,470,631 Marion Oct. 16, 1923 1,776,782 Carr Sept. 30, 1930 1,784,679 Paterson Dec. 9,1930 1,915,060 Kocska June 20, 1933 2,220,409. Kellogg Nov. 5, 1940 2,309,315 Hirsch Jan. 26, 1943 FOREIGN PATENTS 290,332 Great Britain May 8, 1928 

